Archives for September 2013

There was a time in this country when customers were fiercely loyal. Today, however, customers seem to have a “what’s in it for me” attitude, and will jump from one merchant to another to “find the best deal”, or whatever will satisfy their needs at that moment. They do business on a one-way basis. Yet, there is always the lure of “customers for life” possibility. In the following segments, we’ll outline various ways to build customer loyalty. Depending on the type of business you have – brick & mortar store, mail order business, online website business – you may be able to incorporate many of the methods outlined.

1. Provide the very best service! Educate the customers on HOW you provide the best service, then do what you say you’ll do! Show enthusiasm for going out of your way to prove that you’re highly service-oriented.

2. Offer a superior guarantee. Every business can offer a guarantee of some kind. A desirable guarantee will bring and keep the customers.

3. Offer a higher quality product or service. You must be specific – tell the customers exactly WHY your quality is unmatched by the competitors. People will pay for quality, but only when they realize the value. Again, be specific, and it must be convincing. Customers are not fooled by unkept claims. don’t make unrealistic promises. When competition is tough, it’s easy to overpromise, and that can make your marketing position even worse. The goal is to look better, not worse.

4. Provide toll-free telephone access. Those that provide 800 number service are letting their customers know that they are making it as easy as possible for them to communicate with the business. This would not apply to those who are doing business strictly in a local area, and would not be doing business in any area except where local calls can be made.

5. Get customer feed-back. Listen to what the customers are saying. Use their suggestions to help shape your business. Make sure it’s the customers who are running your business. A marketing-driven company operates just one way: the total effort – product, service, price and promotion – must be adapted to the needs and wants of customers.

6. Say “thank you” at every opportunity. Let the customer know that they are noticed and appreciated. Show appreciation. Let your customers know that you WANT their business. Don’t ever assume that they know. Don’t think that price is all they care about. Customers want to know they are appreciated. Good word of mouth “advertising” comes from the customers that KNOW you care about them and that you appreciate them.

7. Concentrate on consulting. Develop new ways to tailor your products and services to meet precise needs of the customer. Spend more time with your customers. Be more helpful, understanding and supportive.

8. Respond promptly. Address customer complaints immediately. For every customer that complains, there may be many that remain silent, but disappear as customers. It is very important, therefore, to satisfy those that do complain, in order to try to keep them as customers. Help your customers solve their problems better than anyone else.

Next week we’ll cover the next 8 ways to build customer loyalty, which in turn means victory, success and ever-increasing profits for YOU.

Misses size patterns are made with a standard “B” cup and half sizes are made with a standard “C” cup. If you use a Misses size pattern and wear an “A”, “C” or “D” cup bra, your bodice will be baggy (A cup) or tight with wrinkles (C or D cup). The same thing applies to half sizes that wear an “A”, “B” or “D” cup bra. The Shape-A-Dart tool has PRE-MEASURED dart widths to correct darts on all commercial patterns, beginning with size 6 and going through 24 1/2, and includes sizes 38 to 46. Simply find YOUR pattern size and PERSONAL bra cup size on the Shape-A-Dart and make the correction.

Do your blouses, dresses and jackets look like the “before” pictures? Simply adjust the dart on the pattern with a Shape-A-Dart, following the easy instructions that are included, and you will have a perfect fitting garment and a “fit that flatters”! You can see this tool at ShapeADart.com.

For those of us in the sewing or craft businesses, there’s always hand sewing that needs to be done. Some projects require more handwork than others, but very seldom do we skate through a project without at least a little hand sewing to do. There are a lot of little things that can be done to make the hand sewing go much faster, so I’ll list a few of these “secrets” here.

1. Keep small pieces of handwork near the telephone so you can work as you talk. You’ll be surprised how much “extra” sewing you’ll get done this way. I was AMAZED at the amount of hand sewing I got done in a days time using the “telephone time” that would otherwise have been wasted.

2. For hand sewing, thread several needles before you start. This will eliminate having to stop as often to re-thread – just reach for another needle. This works GREAT for hand sewing while on the telephone.

3. When getting thread ready for hand sewing, thread the needle FIRST then take the length off the spool. If you knot the end that comes off the spool last, you will have much less tangling and knotting of the thread while you sew.

5. When hand sewing hems, keep the stitches loose so the hems will not get the “gathered” look.

6. Before discarding old rubber gloves, cut off a 2″ length of the thumb and needle fingers — these work great on hand sewing projects where the needle is hard to pull through the fabric.

7. By using a fine sharp needle for hand basting, you will eliminate the unsightly stitch marks which will be left if you use a thicker needle.

8. And, when hand basting, DO NOT knot the thread – it will be easier to remove if you don’t have to worry about the knot.

As we all know in our businesses, time is money, so whatever we can do to speed up a project just a little bit will add minutes, then hours to our sewing time. There are times that I’ve gotten a project finished enough ahead of my “schedule”, that I’ve been able to start cutting something else out, or do some extra sewing on a different project. WOW! Does that ever feel good!

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